As She Lay Dying
by ShesaRebel911
Summary: As she lay on the battlegrounds, body bruised and bloody, her thoughts turned to the man she had met on her travels as a marine. The man with the straw hat.
1. Battlefield

Death blanketed the village. Homes destroyed. Bellemere lay alongside her fallen comrades. Soot and blood stained her tattered uniform. This was it…this was where it all ended. She had fought the good fight.

She shut her eyes, no longer wishing to inhabit her morbid surroundings. She would die here and will never be able to return to Cocoyasi.

Images of the village people coursed through her mind and she wondered if they'd miss her. Genzo would. Despite how annoying he claimed her to be, she knew he always had a soft spot for her.

Her thoughts turned to the man she'd met on her travels as a marine. The man with the straw hat.

She had held out hope that their paths would cross again one day. That hope slowly flickered out as she lay dying on the bloody ground.

Sobs woke her from the edge of despair and she lifted her head. A small girl stumbled out of the wreckage. She appeared bruised and shaken and in her arms resided a giggling baby.

Bellemere forced her wounded body off the ground. She had to help these girls. She staggered towards them, carefully stepping over the surrounding corpses in the rubble.

"Is she your little sister?" she asked, voice hoarse.

The girl spun around in surprise, her expression relaxed upon seeing the wounded marine.

"N-no, I found her." She squeaked, shifting the bundle in her arms so that Bellemere could see the infant's face. A laughing baby girl peered back at her. A giant smile spread across the child's face.

Bellemere kneeled beside the children, gently stroking the infant's cheeks.  
"How did she survive?" she asked in wonder.

"I don't know."

As the baby's laughter echoed through the battlefield, Bellemere couldn't help but smile. The child's happiness was contagious. Tears spilled down her cheeks as she giggled along with the baby. The small girl joined her, her laughter interrupted by the occasional hic up.

She squeezed the two girls close. A new drive to live filled her soul. Death was no longer in the cards tonight. She was going to live. She had to, so that they would.

The storm raged, shaking the raft Bellemere sailed. She kept the children close, tucked beneath her marine coat in attempt to shield them from the elements. They were going to make it out of this.

She could see Cocoyasi Village over the horizon. Waves rocked the boat violently and she squeezed the children tighter. The rain pelted at her cheeks forcing her to keep her face low. Her wounds stung and she bit her lip in attempt to refocus her thoughts.

They were pulling into the docks now. Genzo and the villagers greeted her in confusion. There she sat inside the rocking boat, bloody and bruised. Two children poking out from beneath her raggedy coat

"Bellemere?" Genzo stood before her, eyes wide.

"I need the doctor! They're burning up!"

The shaking girls were instantly taken from Bellemere's arms. He couldn't even begin to imagine what they had gone through.

"Come on, he needs to take a look at you too." Genzo responded, reaching over the boat to help the wounded woman stand.

"No! Them first!" she demanded, rage in her eyes.

Her vision blurred and she grasped the boat tightly. Darkness clouded the man's concerned expression as she felt herself toppling over. He reached over to steady her and her body fell limp into his arms.

 **What did you guys think? Does it have potential as a longer piece or should I just keep it as a one shot? Please review and let me know! =)**


	2. Call of Duty

**Okay guys, I've decided to give this story a try and see how it flows. Please let me know what you guys think!  
**

Bellemere's fingers curled around the freshly brewed ale. It had been a long day and the only thing that pushed her through it had been the knowledge of her stationed village's local pub.

"Ah, that hit the spot!" she announced, slamming the now empty mug on the counter. "Keep em' comin!"

The hired barkeep rushed over, filling her cup to the brim. The marine officer nodded, chugging down her second drink of the night.

"The lady sure knows how to hold down her alcohol!" A man's voice announced from across the bar.

Bellemere grinned, twirling the once again empty mug up by its handle with her fingers.

As the barkeep refilled her drink once more, the marine turned to see who had spoken. By the sound of his voice she imagined an attractive man. She wasn't necessarily wrong.

The straw hat was the first thing that caught her eye, skillfully woven with a red band of cloth sewn within the straw. She had seen that hat before. A messy mop of red hair poked out from beneath it. Three scars resided directly through his left eye. Despite the old wound, the man wore a care free expression.

He beamed at Bellemere, hoisting up his mug of ale towards her, he toasted. She nodded back at him, toasting her newly filled mug in his direction.

She had seen this man before… she glanced down towards her jacket pocket. The pocket where she kept her collection of marine issued wanted posters. This man was a pirate, she was sure of it.

She glanced back over at the carefree man, a wide smile inhabited his face. The weight of her duty grew heavy on her shoulders as she sat there watching the man laugh joyously amongst his friends. She sighed. She had sworn an oath upon enlisting. She was to always uphold justice.

She placed the mug down on the counter before going through her coat. Just as her fingers grazed the posters, the bar doors swung open. The pub grew quiet as large footsteps echoed through the room.

"What do we have here?" A husky voice asked.

Bellemere sipped from her mug, nonchalantly. The man's voice came from directly behind her. It seemed relaxation was not in the forecast for the night.

"Bellemere?" Her eyes snapped open, she sprang up alert and ready for action. "Easy, Bell…" Genzo stood at her side, eyes filled with concern for the injured marine.

Quickly overcoming her distortion, Bellemere steadied herself at the edge of the bed she had woken up on. She had been dreaming of the night she'd met Shanks. Memories of the night before returned and all thoughts of the redheaded pirate she'd met on her travels were momentarily forgotten.

"The girls? How are the girls?" she asked.

"They're gonna be okay, the doctor managed to bring down their fevers."

Bellemere stood up on shaking legs. She had to go see them.

"Bellemere, they're fine. You've been through enough; you need to get some rest. They're in good hands. As soon as they're completely better we'll work on finding them homes."

"Homes?" The young marine's voice was a faint whisper. "They have a home." She continued, her voice stronger.

"Bellemere, you can't be serious? You can't take care of two girls by yourself! Do you have any idea what it takes to provide for a child? Let alone two?!"

"I've made up my mind." Bellemere announced, glaring back over her shoulder at Genzo. Her eyes softened after realizing the intensity of her reaction and she grinned, revealing a new wave of determination in her eyes.

 **Well that's it for now, what do you guys think? Should I have just left it as a one shot or should I keep going with it and see where this story can take me? Please let me know what you think. Good? Bad? I benefit from criticism just as much as I do from positive reinforcement so if you don't like my stories, leave a review and tell me why and what I could do to possibly make it better. =)**


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